Case Reports and Reviews

Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma, Presenting as Laryngeal Polyp After a 28-Year Disease-Free Interval

Naveen Naz,

Naveen Naz

Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, St Joseph’s Healthcare (HRLMP), McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

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JEM Young,

JEM Young

Head and Neck Surgery service, St. Joseph Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada.

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Dhuha Al-Sajee

Dhuha Al-Sajee

1) Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada. 2) Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, St. Joseph Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada. 3) Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.

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  10.33425/2693-1516.1072
Metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the head and neck region, specifically the larynx, is rare. To the present date, seventeen cases of metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the larynx have been reported, showing variable time duration from primary diagnosis to metastases. Here, we provide a report of a patient and a literature review of metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the larynx. The patient presented with dysphonia and a laryngeal polyp. The clinical history was significant for a nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma approximately three decades before. The pathological examination of the laryngeal polyp showed a metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Radiological imaging confirmed metastatic disease in the larynx, lung, pancreas and non-regional nodes and probable local recurrence. This case represents the longest reported latency between nephrectomy and laryngeal metastasis of RCC, and also highlights the clinical, intraoperative and histological findings of such cases. Long-term vigilance is warranted in RCC survivors, given the potential for late and unpredictable metastatic spread.
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